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New Jonas grant funds Loyola DNP scholarships

March 28, 2014

Two new scholarships for Loyola University New Orleans Doctor of Nursing Practice students are now available thanks to a $20,000 grant from the Jonas Center for Nursing and Veterans Healthcare awarded to the Loyola School of Nursing. One will be provided for a DNP Jonas Nurse Leader Scholar and one for a DNP Jonas Veterans Health Care Scholar.

As a recipient of the Jonas Center grant, the School of Nursing is part of a national effort to stem the nursing faculty shortage and prepare future nurses to provide optimum mental and physical health care for the nation’s nearly 22 million veterans. To make the scholarships possible, the School of Nursing will match the Jonas Center grant with $10,000 of its own money.

“The call for more nurses—and thus the faculty to prepare them—is massive. Health care in America has never been more complex, yet tens of thousands of would-be nurses are turned away from the profession each year,” said Donald Jonas, founder of the Jonas Center. “We’ve stepped up the pace and expanded our programs to meet this need.”

Four Loyola DNP students were recipients of Jonas Center grants in 2012 including current DNP students Lydia Arriaga ’94, MSN ’00 and Racquell Garrett. Their commitment to the support of health care is reflected in their current roles. Arriaga works as a nurse practitioner at the Southeast Louisiana Veterans Healthcare system and focuses her research on veterans diagnosed with prostate cancer. Garrett is employed by the Veterans Administration Health Care System in New Orleans where she has served as interim nurse manager and clinical educator. Her capstone project focuses on transitioning and retaining novice nurses into professional practice to provide high quality care to the nation’s veterans.

“All of the students who received funding from the Jonas Center in 2012 have been actively involved in health promotion for our communities and for our veterans. I am so pleased that the Jonas Center will continue funding our students so that these activities may continue and improve,” said Mary Oriol, R.N., DrPH, interim director of Loyola's School of Nursing. “I am confident that the recipients of the 2014 grant will be just as dedicated to the specialized needs and concerns of our nation’s heroes.”

The Loyola Jonas Scholars join nearly 600 future nurse educators and leaders at 110 schools supported by Jonas Center programs, including the Jonas Nurse Leaders Scholars Program and Jonas Veterans Health Care Program. These scholarships support nurses pursuing their Ph.D. and D.N.P., the terminal degrees in the field.

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